


Koinonos

by TrekFaerie



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Childbirth, Complicated Relationships, Developing Relationship, Divorce, Domestic Violence, F/M, Fade to Black, Female Friendship, First Meetings, Male Friendship, Pregnancy, Prison, Relationship Issues, Violent Sex, Weddings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-09-30 12:56:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20447510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrekFaerie/pseuds/TrekFaerie
Summary: In the shadows of a prison, a god and a fairy meet.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> disney you can't just tell me hades and maleficent were married and then NOTHING ELSE i need to know more and if you won't do it i will do it myself

The entire Auradonian fleet—mainly commandeered from Atlantica, as the young nation had yet to truly develop its own—was sailing across the strait, its holds heavy with the refuse of Auradon: goblins and pirates, thieves and beasts, witches and monsters.

The flagship held the most dangerous cargo of all.

-

It was interesting, he thought, to see who had the magic-suppressive collar around their neck and who didn’t, and how the use of chains varied so greatly… No, it wasn’t interesting, it wasn’t interesting at all – but, Hades was getting to the point where he was pretty sure his newly mortal body was going to die from the boredom of it all, so he needed to find entertainment where he could get it.

_Mortal_. That was the real fate worse than death, not whatever that psycho king and his bride had made up in their heads when they’d decided to send all the “evil” people to languish on some abandoned island. The feeling of having his power ripped from him, as that dowdy fairy with power greater than any god marched into his realm and shackled him in the name of goodness, it had felt…

… Well, he supposed it was how Herc had felt, when he’d done it to him. Why no one on Mount Olympus had come out to defend their fellow god from a foreign power – hells, for all he knew, they’d handed him over personally, and gladly.

Some of the prisoners were beginning to stir. Most had simply fallen asleep; apparently, being brought back from the dead was very exhausting. Others had fought so violently and so fiercely that the fairies had to spell them to get them onto the ship. She had been one of those.

He hadn’t expected her to be so small; from all the stories he’d heard, she was the most powerful person there (other than him, of course, but you can’t compare people to gods…). With the horns, she would barely reach his shoulders, if they were both standing. Maleficent, Mistress of Evil… Well, you know what they say about small packages.

He felt a prick, like something sharp being pressed against his arm. He turned his head as best he could, and could only see the flash of metal in the dim light from the porthole. Now, he’d managed to smuggle his ember past the fairies (don’t ask how), but how had they managed to miss a man with a _hook_ for a hand? That was a pretty dangerous weapon!

“She’ll pluck your eyes from your head if she catches you staring so,” he said, his voice low. “If your eyes must wander, have them land elsewhere.”

He shrugged, as best he could. “You know her?” he asked.

“Not well. She differs greatly from the fairies I’m familiar with.”

He didn’t know if that was a joke or not.

“But, I was there when the Fairy Godmother dragged her from the realm of death. She took down twoscore of soldiers before they managed to collar her.” 

He whistled low. “What a woman,” he said. The man didn’t laugh. “What do you care if some crazy woman takes my eyes?”

The hooked man’s lips quirked. “We’re being sent to a desolate hellscape, where only our wits and our ability stand between us and nasty, brutish, short lives,” he said. “I’d rather a whole man than another like me.” 

“Fair. Very fair.”

It didn’t stop him, of course. But, it was a very fair statement.

-

The Auradonian guards threw them all bodily off the ship, letting them hit the jagged sand of the shore. The Fairy Godmother waved her wand—the only magic that would ever work on that rock—and their chains and collars melted out of existence. Then, they left, slipping through the shimmering magic barrier.

All in all, the process took about a half hour, and left over a hundred men, women, and goblins, shivering in the cold wind of the sea, glaring at the horizon as the ships disappeared over it and back to civilization.

What Hades had already been mentally calling the “lesser evils”—the sidekicks, the minions, the people just unlucky enough to be caught on the wrong side—were bunched together, staring wide-eyed at the greater evils where they bunched together near the water.

“They’re lookin’ at us,” said a man with a gap in his teeth, grimacing and shoving his hands in the pockets of his thin jacket for meager warmth. “As if we got any idea what the hell we’re doin’.”

“We were leaders before our exile,” said a distinguished older woman with two young, terrified girls clinging to her sleeves. “They expect us to be leaders again.”

“Well,” said a smirking cecaelia, “we mustn’t let them down, then, hm?”

Maleficent raised her hand, and they all turned to look at her. It felt natural, doing so. She stood in the middle of their group, her small frame drawn up into a dignified air.

“We must move,” she said. “I don’t like the idea of staying where those ‘heroes’ think we should. If this island must be our home, we’ll find our own place to claim for evil.”

They followed her. He guessed that they always would.

-

The island was mainly scrubland, with sparse thickets of sickly looking trees that he knew would be firewood or huts before the week was out, and very little that looked like it would be edible or a livable shelter. At least, that was what he thought. And based on the reactions as they finally summited the hill that split the island, and looked out upon the other side, everyone else was just as shocked as he was.

“My… My house! My beautiful house!” A woman with monochrome hair fell into a dead faint in a similar-looking man’s arms.

None of the random hodgepodge of buildings that stood in front of them could be called “beautiful,” if they ever had been. They looked old and run-down, scattered randomly in the briars and weeds, carelessly placed without much thought or care as to what the “town” they made looked like. There were buildings randomly plucked from different times and places, castles, a ship moored in the waters…

“They left us ruins to haunt,” said the hooked man. “How charming.”

They dispersed after that; it was late in the day, and though none of them would show such weakness, the events of the day had exhausted them. Many of them found something they recognized in the mess; others, the lessers, found places they could slip inside without much notice, places they could huddle together.

Hades found nothing. He supposed they couldn’t exactly transport the whole Underworld.

He felt a drop on his forehead. His first instinct was to protect his hair – but, then he remembered, and his arms fell to his sides. He looked up at the dreary skies as the rain fell harder, slicking his hair back, soaking his clothes.

“What are you doing.”

It was a non-question, so he gave a non-answer. “Taking a shower,” he said with a grin he could just barely fake. “It might be the only way to get one on this damned island.”

He hadn’t realized he had stopped in front of Maleficent’s castle. She stood in the doorway, staring at him with a completely neutral expression. “You’ll catch your death of cold out there,” she said.

Now, the grin was real. “Are you inviting me in?” he asked.

“Absolutely not.”

“Y’know, you move to Evil Villain Island, you think people are gonna throw the whole concept of _xenia_ right out the window, right? Nice to see some people keep the old ways!”

“You are not invited in.”

“Which would be a real problem,” he’d been right, of course; standing together, she had to throw her head back to glare at him, her face barely at chest-level with him, “if I were a vampire. But, I’m not. I’m a god. And it’s raining. So, I’m coming inside.”

It would be easy to move her. She was small, and thin, and all the fury in her eyes stayed in there, unable to escape through spells and magic.

But, he stood. Just stood in front of her, looking down at her, until she sighed deeply, closed her eyes, and stepped to the side just far enough for him to slip past her. He didn’t thank her; he could tell it would have offended her more than anything.

“I’ve made my quarters upstairs,” she said. “You may sleep on the ground floor—tonight. You leave in the morning, and if you even consider coming upstairs, I kill you. Understood? Good. Goodbye.”

She turned and left after that, so he asked the question, “Do I get a pillow or something?” to the slammed door. He was sure she hadn’t heard him, until a few minutes later, when he was busy wringing his clothes out on the stone floor, and a cloth bundle suddenly smacked him in the head; the door slammed shut again before he could even react to it.

A pillow, and a blanket. Both old, both musty, both moth-eaten.

He slept more soundly than he’d expected to.


	2. Chapter 2

He woke up from his first night’s sleep as a mortal with a crick in his neck and drool drying on his cheek. He rubbed violently at his face, attempted to fix his hair the best he could without any mirrors around, and made his way outside, to explore whatever was causing those sounds of industry that had woken him up in the first place.

Maleficent stood in front of her castle, leaning over a large table she’d had brought from somewhere. The table was covered in papers, lists and maps and plans. When whatever she was writing with ran out, she barked an order at the pirates that were cooking something a short distance away, and one would run over, tossing hot charcoal between their hands.

She wasn’t alone at the table: a regal woman and a robed man with a feather on his hat. “The goblins say they found an underground spring while digging,” the woman said. “It apparently reeks of sulfur.”

“That can be easily treated,” the man said, waving his hand dismissively. “We once had a similar situation with a well in Agrabah. We’ll need to set up a water filtration system in any case, to prevent disease…”

“Hades.” Maleficent didn’t look up from the table, though the others gave him odd looks as he leaned over her shoulder. “I see you’re electing to do nothing useful this morning.”

“Can’t a guy sleep in on his first night in prison?” All her papers were written in a language he couldn’t understand. “

“Grimhilde and Jafar have been very useful to me,” she said, “as they have extensive experience with civil planning.”

“I _am_ a queen,” she said, giving him a long once-over glance. “You are a… lord, Maleficent said?”

He felt… judged? “I mean, I’m lord of the entire Underworld,” he said. “I’m a god. That’s not exactly something to sneeze at.”

She sniffed lightly. “Not even a _duke_ of the Underworld,” she said, sotto voce, nudging Maleficent with her elbow. Maleficent cracked the slightest of smiles.

“I was the vizier of Agrabah, before they brought me to this place,” Jafar said, giving him a wry grin; he must have gotten similar treatment. “If I could make life bloom in the desert sands, I can bring prosperity to this island of lost souls.”

“Catchy name. You might just have a hit on your hands there, Jeff.”

“So, as you can see, Hades,” Maleficent said, raising her voice; a random goblin cringed and ran away, dropping whatever it had been carrying, “your expertise as ‘lord of the Underworld’ will not be required.”

A man slipped through the crowds like a shadow, making his way to the table. Hades recognized him as the gap-toothed man from yesterday. “Dr. Facilier!” she said. “Have Hook’s explorations found anything?”

“Y’know…” He let out a humorless laugh. “I probably shoulda sent somebody else to deliver this. You’re not gonna believe it, coming from me—“

“Spit it out, Slim,” Hades said with a drawl. “The lady’s getting impatient.”

“… We found tombs. This damn island’s a burial ground.”

They all fell silent.

“… Well! Well, well, well, _well_!”

He clapped Maleficent on the shoulders; she turned and hissed at him, a bit like a cat. “Looks like you just might be needing me after all,” he said. “Fancy a bit of grave-robbing?”

-

In the end, Maleficent managed to make her and Hades going off to explore and inventory the tombs seem like her own idea. Facilier led them to the largest tomb, surrounded by Hook’s pirate crew as they busily excavated the graves around it; he handed Hades a torch, which immediately put him into a bad mood.

“Try not to get yourself killed down there,” Facilier said under his breath, watching as Maleficent pushed past them and marched into the dark depths. “I’m surprised she hasn’t killed you already.”

“I’m just that charming,” he said. “’Hades the Charmer,’ they always called me.”

Facilier gave him an unimpressed look. “… I’m not sure what happens to souls when they’re stuck behind a barrier like this,” he said. “Just watch yourself.”

“Thanks for the advice, Doc,” he said. “And, hey, when I get back, do you think you can look at this thing I got growing on my—“

He hadn’t even known there had been a door to the tomb, or that Facilier was strong enough to slam a stone door shut. And yet, there he was, standing with only a smoky torch to light the way.

“If you’ve finished your little coffee klatch,” her arch voice echoed off the walls of the tomb, “it’s much deeper than I expected. We must get going.”

“Oh, right away, Mistress. Your wish is my command.” And he was sure it was a trick of the torchlight, but he was almost equally sure he caught a hint of a smile.

-

The stairs of the tomb seemed to descend forever; they passed by dozens of crypts, with Maleficent making note of each one’s location, size, and occupancy on her paper. “We could use these for something,” she said, more to herself than to him, “once they’re cleared out. I’m sure most of us wouldn’t have any issue living under ground.”

“I prefer it, honestly,” he said. “Reminds me of home sweet home.”

The bottom of the tomb had a tunnel, blocked by a stone; she had him struggle to push it out of the way, just far enough for them to slip inside. “These are old mine shafts,” she said, rapping on the old wood shoring up the walls, testing their strength. “What did this place used to be…”

“Doesn’t matter what it was,” he said. The walls looked scraped of any resources; they wouldn’t exactly hit gold down here. “Just matters that it’s ours.”

At the end of the tunnel… If Hades had felt at home in the tombs before, he _definitely_ was now. “Look at this place,” he said, holding up the torch; even as its flame started to die out, he could still see how impressive the cave was. “It’s huge… This would make some man-cave, don’t you—Uh. Mally? Babe?”

He waved the torch around until he found her. She was leaning against the wall of the cave, her hands on her knees. “… You okay over there?”

“… I’m resting,” she said. She was staring forward, her voice hard. “We’ll leave when I’m done.”

“Uh… Yeah, of course. I mean, I’m pretty tuckered out, too. Cardio wasn’t exactly my priority, y’know, before…” He sat down next to her, putting the torch on the ground in front of them. “… Y’know, you’d probably rest better if you actually, y’know. Sat.”

“… I’m not sure I’ll be able to get up again.”

There was a hint of humor in her voice, but something else was there, too. She sounded… well, she sounded tired. “You won’t be much used to us as a leader if you kill yourself with exhaustion a day in,” he said. “You should relax a little. Take a break. What harm’ll it do?”

“The moment I show weakness, those vultures will eat me alive.” She chuckled, deep and low. “Every one of you thinks you can rule better than me—“

“Why would I think that?” There was no response, and silence made him itch, so he kept talking. “I wouldn’t know what to do with any of those bozos up there. I’m no real… _leader of men_, y’know, like you are. I’m not really that good with ruling over the living; they’re so much more annoying than the dead are, always whining and moping and _needing_. At least when the dead get annoying, you can just push them back down into the River Styx…”

No response. “You saw how they all fell in line, yesterday. You’re a natural at this. Nobody would even think of trying anything against—“

She kissed him.

Her sharp nails dug into the skin of his scalp as she pulled him against her, drawing his mortal blood. Her teeth kissed him more than her lips did, but he could feel the hard flesh of them split against his canines, drawing her mortal blood. He brought his hands up to her head, tearing back the hood, loosening the sweat-slick curls that clutched to her horns, his fingers. She climbed into his lap, narrow thighs pressed against his hips as she pushed his back into the wall of the cave, tore at his clothes with talons and urgency and something just a bit closer to fury than it was desperation.

They parted for breath, as it was something they both needed now, and his gasps were flecked with copper.

“Are we about to fuck,” he asked, “or are we about to fight?”

She smiled, blood-slick, against his neck.

“Both,” she said, biting down hard.


End file.
